Fledgling: Book 1 (Afterlife) (10 page)

As much as it hurts, I know there is no point in trying to divert his probing. After the effort with Archangel Michael, it is clear their experience surpasses barriers against seeing truth.
 

It feels like forever, but I know it has only been less than a minute when he removes his finger, and Archangel Raphael follows his lead. I want to melt into the comforting greenness as my inner turmoil softens and begins to heal. He removes his finger, and the feeling subsides. Gabriel steps forward to view my disobedience.
 

As much as I try, I cannot get a reading of what their thoughts are over the process. The wait is tearing me apart, but I don’t have a choice. After the removal of the last angelic finger from our foreheads, the four archangels walk to the table and take a seat.
 

I cast a glance at Blue. This makes me feel worse. He shouldn’t be here. It is all my fault. He looks at me. There is not a hint of regret in his eyes, but I still don’t feel any better. He should hate me right now.
 

I hear voices coming from the table. I turn my attention back to our judges. The verdict discussion is beginning.
 

“I believe they should be thrown in the abyss,” Uriel states without a hint of remorse. There he goes again reminding me of the personality of Zeus. An instant decision maker when someone goes against the rules. “If we do not make an example of them, many will follow in their footsteps. Then we would have a huge problem on our hands. We would have to eliminate all the non-abiding fledglings, and will lose years of work and progress.”

Archangel Gabriel speaks up, “I know what you are saying, but the abyss is a very harsh punishment. I do not think that they deserve the punishment of permanence in the abyss. I think they have uses for the future.”

My initial confusion corrected over Archangel Gabriel’s thoughts. Male or female, I don’t care. I am now glad that Gabriel is here. Maybe it is the creative side of Gabriel that has a more open mind.
 

Raphael speaks, “As you know, my first goal is to heal. Heal the body and the mind of all living creatures. If we let the perpetrators stroll freely among the Innocents, without a conscience then this will harm the world, not heal it. We must rectify them, despite the outcome for the perpetrators. This one,” he says indicating me, “cannot make that decision. Her decisions are immature and without direction. It is a recipe for disaster. And this one,” he indicates Blue, “cannot go and do this one's work for her. It is not allowed.”

Archangel Michael speaks. “Well, you know my position when it comes to enforcing the angelic law. We must uphold the strength of our justice system. It was ruled thousands of years ago to protect the innocent. We must sustain the law.” He looks menacingly in our direction.

Our outcome is not looking good. As much as I do not wish for my inevitable fate, I cannot stand having Blue punished as well. He was only trying to protect me from punishment. Instead, he has ended up in the line of fire as well.
 

Uriel begins to speak, “So it is to the abyss —”

“Please,” I interrupt Uriel. I swallow hard realising what I have done, but I must continue. “Please, let him go.” I indicate to Blue. “It is my fault, and he was just trying to save me from punishment.”

“I can see what he has done, child,” Uriel says, as his eyes survey me without compassion. “You need to control your emotions and have respect for the angelic law including not interrupting while your archangels are speaking.” He raises his chin.

I try to swallow that lump in my throat again. “I do apologise for my error. I am nervous for my colleague, he does not deserve to be punished for protecting me.” I falter realising that I have told the archangels what they should or should not be doing. I take a deep breath and suddenly I have a surge of confidence. I look into his eyes and watch the smouldering pots of gold constrict. “I also believe that there must be another way than how you are treating the perpetrators.” I hear a gasp from Archangel Gabriel, but I continue. “They also have innocence inside. It may be deep, but it is there. Something has happened to them to cause them to act this way and do evil to the Innocents.”

“Enough!” Archangel Michael demands. “You do not speak to your superiors this way. I am certain I have taught you this. You need a harsh lesson. I rule that you both be thrown into the abyss until you feel the effects it will have on you.” He looks around at the other three archangels. “How do you rule?”

My eyes quickly look at each face in front of me. They are all nodding. I bite my bottom lip to stop me saying more. I have done enough damage. Glancing at Blue my guilt is still there, yet at the same time I am relieved that I will not be in the abyss alone. A very selfish thought, I know. Someone grabs my left arm from behind. I look over the shoulder to see Archangel Michael has grabbed hold of me. This meeting has come to an end.
 

Guided by my arm, I am taken through the open cloud door and to the edge of the cloud’s platform. Blue is being escorted by Archangel Uriel. As we stand at the edge, I am readying myself for flight when a big, black hole appears in front of us. I gaze in and see nothing but blackness. My muscles tighten.
 

“You are first Fledgling,” Archangel Michael says. I look and see that he is talking to me. His blue eyes are emotionless. This is business only to him. He is doing his job. I do not feel hate for him or the other archangels. I am only sad their beliefs in the long-standing law are so rigid, that they are not willing to see another option. Taking a deep breath, I know I have no other option, so I brace myself and then jump into the hole. There is nothing in here. No walls, no floor, just blackness. I am continuously falling. I spread my wings and flap while I wait for Blue. At least I will have someone in here for company. I flap, and I flap. Soon the hole should open just above me, and Blue will appear.
 

I wait. Time is passing. I do not know how long it has been, but it is beginning to feel like an eternity. I continue to hover. Surely they will be putting him in here straight away. Perhaps the hole has this feeling of time going slowly. I am hoping this is the case, but I cannot help feeling anxious that Blue will not be joining me. I wait . . . and wait. Nothing.

- Chapter Nine -

It feels like weeks have passed, but I do not know. I don’t have a watch, and there is no day or night. There is not even a place I can land and feel secure. It is just an open nothingness. The blackness engulfs me. It is so dark that I can barely see my golden wings. I wish they had projected me into space. At least then I would have the stars and moons surrounding me, something to observe.
 

I have been waiting outside the place where I am certain I entered. My wings are very tired. I am very tired like I could use some sleep, but angels do not sleep.
 

There is still no sign of Blue, and this splits me in two. One side of me is hopeful that they had a change of heart and did not put him in here. The other side is disappointed that I do not have the company I am yearning. I am ready to give up waiting. After all this time, he cannot be coming.
 

I relax my wings, and I feel myself fall. I am a weightlessness that will never find the bottom. I am falling; then again, I seem to be also floating. It is like being stuck in an antigravity zone. I hope that they will not leave me in here for long. It is not uncomfortable — just so lonely, so empty. It is not the kind of aloneness I enjoy.

I lie back and let go. I reflect on what I did to get me into here. The strange thing is that I am sure I would do it all again. I guess I am not repentant like I am supposed to be. The only thing I would do different would be to keep Blue out of it.
 

I fall and float in this antigravity zone. It is a disturbing feeling. I am helpless to do much else. There is no sleeping, eating, talking, nothing to even observe. A feeling of hopelessness begins to creep into my mind. I try to picture Blue, and the Innocents I have saved so far. The perpetrators also enter my mind. What could be changing them and making them commit these horrible crimes? I long to check on my past perpetrator, to see what the conscience Blue inserted into him did. Is he still alive?
 

I am still buoyant. The time is dragging on. It feels like I have been in here a couple of months. I close my eyes. My mind begins to wander to when I was a human last. We are forbidden to associate with our past families. It may be so, but it cannot make me forget them. No, their memory is still engraved in my mind, especially my true love.
 

We had lived three lives together, but his third was still in progress. I reached my hand up to my lips. I miss him. I wish he could join me in the angel world, except that would still not fix the problem. We are not allowed to have relationships stemming from a romantic basis. Besides protecting the innocent, there is not much going for the life of an angel.
 

Thinking back to the people I have saved, I am still glad I became a protection angel, despite its restrictions. I just need to get out of here.
 

Remaining in limbo, I don’t know how long it has been. My mind is beginning to have blackouts. It almost seems as though it is beginning to shut down. I thought I would be going crazy before my mind shut down. Perhaps it is going to sleep to preserve its mentality. It continues to go slowly black. I don’t know what will happen next. It is almost completely black, and only a faint light reminds me that I am alive. I fear that it is also about to go dark when a bright light opens up before me. I can see it through my closed eyelids.
 

Instantly my mind begins to light up again. I open my eyes and squint at the light. It is hard to open my eyelids more than a slit. My eyes lack conditioning to the light. Groggily, I straighten my position to face the bright hole. A hand grabs my arm at the elbow and yanks me into the light. I cannot see the owner of the arm because my eyes still haven’t adjusted to the brightness of the light.
 

When the darkness disappears, my feet hit solid ground. My knees buckle at the unusual feeling, and I land on the ground in a half kneeling, half sitting position. I place my hands down next to my knees, and the feeling of short grass prickles my palms. My eyes are adjusting better, and I can see that I am surrounded by nature. The surroundings look familiar.
 

“Fledgling,” a stern voice calls over me.
 

I blink and look up. Archangel Michael is standing over me. He offers a hand, and I stand.
 

“I hope you have learned your lesson.” I don’t say anything. I am in no hurry to go back into the abyss, so I nod. To me, my lesson was that the abyss stinks. It is a horrible place to be for such a long time.
 

“Good,” he says. He doesn’t place a finger on my forehead to check, this surprises me. “We need all hands on deck and don’t need you to be locked away at the moment.”
 

I look around the area. We are at our training base. I have missed the view of the ocean and the palm trees swaying in the breeze. A seagull squawks in the distance. I have even missed their unpleasant cry. I don’t see any other fledglings. They must be all on a mission. Turning back to my leader, I see that he is studying me with his arms crossed.
 

“I know going into the abyss is not pleasant, but if you do not follow our rules it will be your punishment. You were only in there for a few days.”
 

I almost fall over with the reality. “Really?” I ask struggling with the information. “It felt like months.”

He nods. “It pains me to do it. Not only are we in need of all the angels we have, but we especially need the help of the gifted and more powerful ones.”

I frown. I am not sure where he is going with this.
 

He uncrosses his arms and cups his hands in front of him. The cloud appears in his palms, and he reaches in, pulling out a shiny bean. Handing it to me he says, “Go and serve as instructed. The Innocent need you, the evil of heart do not.”

I take the bean and swallow. The warmth fills my stomach, and I relish the feeling. I am needed again. As I let the warmth spread, I look at my instructor.

His eyes are studying me with a concerned look on his face. “Remain here for a few minutes until you are ready to proceed. Your mission is not completely urgent, but do not dawdle.”
 

After I nod, he disappears leaving me alone again. I am not particularly fond of being alone at this moment. A thought crosses my mind. It is my first moment of freedom, and I have been itching to find something out. I push off the ground and open my golden wings. Flapping consistently, I begin to rise into the sky. Each stroke pushes me rapidly forward. Before long I have crossed the mainland of Australia. I look beneath me and observe the Indian Ocean. It is so nice to be free again. It is only a little while before I reach the coast of South Africa, and I call in to see Louisa’s attacker in Pretoria. As I visit his home, I am surprised to find it is a mansion.